NoneGamer girls levelling up as UK duo dominate at top esports tournamentAustralia's proposal to ban under-16s from social media platforms is "rushed", social media companies claimed Tuesday, expressing "serious concerns" about potential unintended consequences. The landmark legislation would force social media firms to prevent young teens from accessing their platforms or face fines of up to Aus$50 million (US$32.5 million). Platforms such as X, Snapchat, TikTok, and Meta have criticised the 24-hour time frame given for stakeholder comments, claiming a lack of consultation and inadequate details about how the legislation would work. X said in its submission that it had "serious concerns" the ban would have "a negative impact" on children, adding it breached their "rights to freedom of expression and access to information". The company added that the proposed law was "vague" and "highly problematic" and that there was "no evidence" that it would work. Australia is among the vanguard of nations trying to clean up social media, and the proposed age limit would be among the world's strictest measures aimed at children. The proposed laws, which were presented to parliament last week, would also include robust privacy provisions that require tech platforms to delete any age-verification information collected. The government is trying to approve the law this week, before parliament breaks for the rest of the year. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said in its submission the ban would "fail" in its current form because there was not enough consultation with stakeholders. "More time should be taken to get this bill right," it said. TikTok raised concerns over the privacy provisions -- including that they overlapped and contradicted other legislation -- and the limited time to consult stakeholders. "Its rushed passage poses a serious risk of further unintended consequences," the company's submission said. Key details about how social media companies are expected to enforce the ban remain unclear. Some companies will be granted exemptions from the ban, such as YouTube, which teenagers may need to use for school work or other reasons. Once celebrated as a means of staying connected and informed, social media platforms have been tarnished by cyberbullying, the spread of illegal content, and election-meddling claims. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insisted Tuesday that "social media is causing social harm". "It can be a weapon for bullies, a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators," he wrote in an opinion piece. "And because it is young Australians who are most engaged with this technology -- it is young Australians who are most at risk." The laws would give families "peace of mind" that their children's well-being and mental health were being prioritised, he said. If the proposed law passes, tech platforms would be given a one-year grace period to figure out how to implement and enforce the ban. The proposal comes just months before Australians go to the polls in a general election that must be held in the first half of 2025. lec/arb/fox
Jan Suraj chief Prashant Kishore joined the aspirants of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) in their protest in Gandhi Maidan on Sunday. ET Year-end Special Reads What kept India's stock market investors on toes in 2024? India's car race: How far EVs went in 2024 Investing in 2025: Six wealth management trends to watch out for The BPSC aspirants continue their protest demanding a re-exam to be held for the 70th BPSC prelims. Meanwhile, accusing the Bihar government of turning democracy into " lathi-tantra ," Kishore emphasised the right to protest of the students in public spaces. Speaking to the media, Kishore said, "We are not going for a protest. Students are sitting there, we are going to meet them. Gandhi Maidan is a public place, people go there every day. If the students do not have any place, they will go to a public place. I don't know why the government has made it a question of its prestige, somewhere they are harming themselves." Kishore further added, "Bihar is the mother of democracy and if the students here do not have the right to speak their minds, then this is becoming a 'lathi-tantra'... that's why we are with the students." 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On Saturday, Delhi Police detained members of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) who were protesting outside Bihar Bhawan in Delhi against the police lathi charge on BPSC aspirants in Patna. The protesting students in Patna are demanding the cancellation of the Integrated Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination (CCE) 2024 conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) on December 13. (ANI) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100
Asda's woes continue as it becomes the only major supermarket to sees sales fall ahead of Xmas By EMILY HAWKINS Updated: 22:04, 10 December 2024 e-mail 2 View comments Asda was the only major supermarket to suffer a slump in sales in the run up to the crucial Christmas trading period. The gloomy update underlined the scale of the job facing the grocer’s returning boss. Research group Kantar said Asda sales in the 12 weeks to December 1 fell to £4.3billion – down 5.6 per cent on the same period a year ago. The dismal figures laid bare the scale of the group’s decline just weeks after former chief executive Allan Leighton returned to the company to take over from Stuart Rose as executive chairman. Once Britain’s second biggest supermarket, Asda has been flailing since the Issa brothers Mohsin and Zuber joined private equity giant TDR Capital to buy it in a £6.8billion debt-fuelled deal in 2021. By contrast, sales rose last month at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Lidl. Struggles: Research group Kantar said Asda sales in the 12 weeks to December 1 fell to £4.3bn – down 5.6% on the same period a year ago Asda has seen its share of the grocery market fall from 14.1 per cent at the time of the takeover to a record low of 12.3 per cent. It has languished as shoppers headed to rivals, and Aldi is now hot on its heels with 10.3 per cent of the market. That has left Asda fighting to hold on to its position as Britain’s third-biggest supermarket behind Tesco and Sainsbury’s. The business is now pinning its hopes on new leadership. Leighton, 71, made his name as Asda boss between 1996 and 2001. His tenure included the company’s £6.7billion sale to US giant Walmart in 1999. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Trump unleashes animal spirits to turbocharge US: But UK... Pound surges to highest level against the euro for more than... Share this article Share HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP How to choose the best (and cheapest) stocks and shares Isa and the right DIY investing account One task at the top of his list will be the appointment of a full-time chief executive. Asda has been trying to hire one for more than three years. Morrisons, which is also owned by private equity having been bought by Clayton Dubilier & Rice for £7billion in October 2021, has also seen its market share plunge. It now holds 8.6 per cent against 8.7 per cent last year. But it was good news for Britain’s biggest supermarket. Tesco has seen its share of the market jump to a seven-year high of 28.1 per cent. DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS AJ Bell AJ Bell Easy investing and ready-made portfolios Learn More Learn More Hargreaves Lansdown Hargreaves Lansdown Free fund dealing and investment ideas Learn More Learn More interactive investor interactive investor Flat-fee investing from £4.99 per month Learn More Learn More Saxo Saxo Get £200 back in trading fees Learn More Learn More Trading 212 Trading 212 Free dealing and no account fee Learn More Learn More Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence. Compare the best investing account for you Share or comment on this article: Asda's woes continue as it becomes the only major supermarket to sees sales fall ahead of Xmas e-mail Add comment Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence. More top stories
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SINGAPORE: News emerged in late November that over 100 Singaporean public servants, including five ministers, received extortionary emails with deepfake images . The messages demanded US$50,000 of cryptocurrency in return for not publishing “compromising” videos. The emails contained purported screenshots of those videos showing the victim’s faces, which seemed to be taken from public sources such as LinkedIn. This is not the first extortion plot against public servants in Singapore. Earlier this year , several members of parliament received threatening letters containing obscene images manipulated in a similar way. Such incidents highlight concerns over the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential to augment blackmail attempts. DEEPFAKE BLACKMAIL ON THE RISE Similar attempts have also occurred in Asia. An extortion scheme in November targeted male politicians in South Korea, where victims’ faces were superimposed on explicit images and ransom was demanded in return for keeping the altered images private. In 2019, an alleged deepfake sex video targeting a Malaysian politician was circulated on WhatsApp. The capacity for AI to create realistic content carries significant risks for harmful exploitation. With AI-powered tools being widely available, anyone can easily and rapidly create a deepfake, using tactics such as face swapping to switch an individual’s likeness with another. Cybercriminals have also adopted deepfake technology for other malicious purposes such as investment scams . Such deepfakes affect not only politicians and celebrities but ordinary people. DEEPFAKES AS PART OF A CYBERCRIMINAL’S TOOLBOX Public figures such as politicians and businessmen are prime targets for deepfake extortion, given the wealth of images and videos of them available online. Malicious actors can utilise deepfakes not only for financial gain, but to obtain information or compromise their careers. This is cause for concern due to the influence and sensitive data politicians and businessmen have access to. Cybercriminals have also used similar strategies against ordinary people. In June 2023, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned of “sextortion schemes” where bad actors create deepfake pornography using content posted on social media, to pressure victims either for payment or to send real explicit photos or videos of themselves. Such blackmail attempts could cause severe reputational harm and mental distress to individuals. Victims are afraid of the potential embarrassment from not paying ransoms and having their deepfakes leaked online. Even though they are aware that the content is fake, there remains the fear that the public might believe otherwise. Sadly, women make up the overwhelming majority of victims in deepfake pornography campaigns. A 2023 study by cybersecurity firm Security Hero analysing almost 100,000 deepfake pornographic videos found that 99 per cent of its victims were women. Another 2024 study by cybersecurity firm ESET UK revealed that nearly two-thirds of women worry about being a victim of deepfake porn. UNDERMINING CREDIBILITY AND SEEDING DOUBT In some respects, the authenticity of a video or image might not really matter to public perception. This calls to mind the notion of the “liar’s dividend”, where those who spread misinformation benefit from undermining credibility and casting doubt on what is being perceived. Deepfakes are a powerful tool in persuading people to believe in events that never happened, and can be co-opted by malicious actors to further their goals. The mere suggestion of scandal can already damage a victim's reputation. On the other hand, there is a risk that with the rise of deepfakes, those accused of misconduct could discredit legitimate photos and videos by alleging that they are manipulated. This presents certain challenges. For instance, if a whistleblower reports evidence of wrongdoing by a corporate entity, the company in question could claim that the content is fake. Public uncertainty over truthfulness could result in diminishing levels of trust, increased scepticism and even cynicism about information online. PREVENTATIVE MEASURES Advances in AI will make identifying deepfakes more difficult, further empowering them for malicious uses. Greater understanding of AI capabilities and the danger of deepfake sextortion will go a long way. When all our lives are online, there is an abundance of content available for malicious actors to exploit. We can be more cautious of what we post online or limit our privacy setting on social media accounts to trusted friends and people we know. Reporting any sextortion attempts or activity to the police and relevant social media platforms is also a good first step. In discerning whether something we see online is real or not, we can try to ascertain the motivation behind its creation and dissemination. One of the best strategies is to question content that elicits an emotional reaction. As deepfake technology evolves and malicious actors adapt, it is crucial that we stay updated on the latest developments and remain vigilant to such online threats. Dymples Leong is an Associate Research Fellow with the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said that the club is planning to have meetings on the organization’s offensive philosophy.
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