ByTechVista

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  • European parliament calls for social media ban on under-16s

    MEPs pass resolution to help parents tackle growing dangers of addictive internet platforms Children under 16 should be banned from using social media unless their parents decide otherwise, the European parliament says. MEPs passed a resolution on age restrictions on Wednesday by a large majority. Although not legally binding, it raises pressure for European legislation…

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  • Ofcom urges social media platforms to combat abuse and limit online ‘pile-ons’

    New guidance from UK regulator aims to combat misogynist abuse and ‘revenge porn’ Social media platforms are being urged to limit internet “pile-ons” under new guidelines to protect women and girls online. The guidance from Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, to combat misogynist abuse, coercive control and the sharing of intimate images without consent comes…

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  • Ofcom at risk of losing public trust over online harms, says Liz Kendall

    Technology secretary fears digital frontier may be outpacing regulator, with AI chatbots a particular concern The UK’s internet regulator, Ofcom, is at risk of losing public trust if it fails to use its powers to tackle online harms, the technology secretary, Liz Kendall, has said. Kendall last week told Ofcom’s chief executive, Melanie Dawes, she…

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  • Father of teen whose death was linked to social media has ‘lost faith’ in Ofcom

    Ian Russell says watchdog lacks ‘urgency’ and is not willing to use its powers ‘to the extent required’ The father of Molly Russell, a British teenager who killed herself after viewing harmful online content, has called for a change in leadership at the UK’s communications watchdog after losing faith in its ability to make the…

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  • Tech companies and UK child safety agencies to test AI tools’ ability to create abuse images

    New law will allow technology to be examined and ensure tools have safeguards to stop creation of material Tech companies and child protection agencies will be given the power to test whether artificial intelligence tools can produce child abuse images under a new UK law. The announcement was made as a safety watchdog revealed that…

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  • Meta found in breach of EU law over ‘ineffective’ complaints system for flagging illegal content

    European Commission initial finding says Facebook and Instagram introduced unnecessary steps for users to submit reports Instagram and Facebook have breached EU law by failing to provide users with simple ways to complain or flag illegal content, including child sexual abuse material and terrorist content, the European Commission has said. In a preliminary finding on…

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  • Bereaved families call for inquiry into UK failure to act on pro-suicide forum

    Report found coroners raised concerns over suicide forums at least 65 times to three government departments since 2019 Bereaved families and survivors of a pro-suicide forum have called for a public inquiry into the government’s failure to prevent harm linked to the online platform. The calls came as a report found that coroners had raised…

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  • Parents will be able to block Meta bots from talking to their children under new safeguards

    Measures come amid concern generative AI characters are having inappropriate conversations with under-18s Parents will be able to block their children’s interactions with Meta’s AI character chatbots, as the tech company addresses concerns over inappropriate conversations. The social media company is adding new safeguards to its “teen accounts”, which are a default setting for under-18…

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  • UK MPs urged to investigate TikTok’s plans to cut 439 content moderator jobs

    Trade unions and online safety experts sign letter warning jobs losses could expose children to harmful content Trade unions and online safety experts have urged MPs to investigate TikTok’s plans to make hundreds of jobs for UK-based content moderators redundant. The video app company is planning 439 redundancies in its trust and safety team in…

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  • Hack of age verification firm may have exposed 70,000 Discord users’ ID photos

    Names, email addresses and other contact details of users from around the world could also have been taken Government ID photos of about 70,000 global users of Discord, a popular messaging and chat platform among video gamers, may have been exposed after hackers compromised a company contracted to carry out age verification checks. Some users’…

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