Internet news

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YouTube says brief outage fixed

YouTube said late Tuesday it had fixed a widespread outage that hit hundreds of thousands of users around the world.

Internet

Zuckerberg to testify in landmark social media addiction trial

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify Wednesday at a groundbreaking social media addiction trial, summoned by lawyers representing a plaintiff who alleges Instagram and other platforms were deliberately designed to make ...

Internet

Jury told that Meta, Google 'engineered addiction' at landmark US trial

Meta and Google-owned YouTube were accused Monday of pushing highly addictive apps on children as a landmark social media trial began in earnest in a California court.

Internet

YouTube rejects addiction claims in landmark social media trial

YouTube's legal team insisted Tuesday that the Google-owned video platform was not intentionally addictive or even technically social media, on the second day of a landmark U.S. trial targeting tech giants.

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Discord adopts facial recognition in child safety crackdown

Messaging platform Discord announced Monday it will implement enhanced safety features for teenage users globally, including facial recognition, joining a wave of social media companies rolling out age verification systems.

Internet

Whack-a-mole: US academic fights to purge his AI deepfakes

As deepfake videos of John Mearsheimer multiplied across YouTube, the American academic rushed to have them taken down, embarking on a grueling fight that laid bare the challenges of combating AI-driven impersonation.

Internet

How the web is learning to better protect itself

More than 35 years after the first website went online, the web has evolved from static pages to complex interactive systems, often with security added as an afterthought. To mitigate risks, developers use security headers ...

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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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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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EU lawmakers propose social media ban for under-16s

European lawmakers on Thursday called for stricter rules to protect minors online, including a bloc-wide minimum age of 16 to access social media and AI companions without parental consent.

Internet

Google wants right to bundle Gemini AI app with Maps, YouTube

Alphabet Inc.'s Google wants to retain the right to bundle its popular mapping and video apps with its Gemini AI service, a lawyer for the company told a federal judge Wednesday, pushing back on a Justice Department proposal ...

Internet

Child protection vs privacy: decision time for EU

Does protecting children justify snooping on private messages? That is the sensitive question facing EU countries Wednesday as they wrangle over a push to combat child sexual abuse material online.

Internet

Google argues a forced sale of Ad Exchange is too risky

Alphabet Inc.'s Google has spent the past week in Virginia federal court seeking to persuade a judge that selling off its advertising exchange is too risky, technologically difficult and would disrupt the market.

Internet

California enacts AI safety law targeting tech giants

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law groundbreaking legislation requiring the world's largest artificial intelligence companies to publicly disclose their safety protocols and report critical incidents, state ...

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Computer scientists are boosting US cybersecurity

As cyber threats grow more sophisticated by the day, UC Riverside researchers are making computing safer thanks to research that targets some of the internet's most pressing security challenges.

Internet

China penalizes popular app Xiaohongshu over content

China's internet regulator said on Thursday it had ordered "warnings and strict punishment" to bosses at popular social media app Xiaohongshu over its online content, slamming "trivial" and "negative" posts.

Internet

French lawmakers urge social media ban for under-15s

French lawmakers urged a social media ban for under-15s and "digital curfew" for older minors Thursday, with massively popular short video platform TikTok the focus of renewed harsh government scrutiny.