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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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'Take It Down:' a tool for teens to remove explicit images

"Once you send that photo, you can't take it back," goes the warning to teenagers, often ignoring the reality that many teens send explicit images of themselves under duress, or without understanding the consequences.

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Meta unveils more cautious approach to ChatGPT frenzy

Facebook-owner Meta on Friday unveiled its own version of the artificial intelligence behind apps such as ChatGPT, saying it would give access to researchers to find fixes to the technology's potential dangers.

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Google tests blocking news content for some Canadians

Google is blocking some Canadian users from viewing news content in what the company said Wednesday is a test run of a potential response to a Canadian government's online news bill.

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UNESCO chief urges tougher regulation of social media

The United Nations' educational, scientific and cultural agency chief on Wednesday called for a global dialogue to find ways to regulate social media companies and limit their role in the spreading of misinformation around ...

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Sci-fi magazine bans hundreds of AI chatbot authors

An American science fiction magazine said it had stopped accepting submissions and banned hundreds of authors after being deluged with stories written by artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots.

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Facebook-owner Meta to roll out paid subscription

Facebook, the social network that was supposed to stay free "always," and its stablemate Instagram launched on Sunday a paid subscription service, as the advertising-based business model that has long dominated the internet ...

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Meta subscriber plan risks digital divide, say critics

Years after Facebook quietly removed a slogan that declared the site was "free and always will be", parent company Meta announced on Sunday a paid-for subscription service that has already been widely criticized.

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Angry Bing chatbot just mimicking humans, say experts

Microsoft's nascent Bing chatbot turning testy or even threatening is likely because it essentially mimics what it learned from online conversations, analysts and academics said on Friday.